Ho Sokley, Pech Kimthan and Noun Vuthy are teacher educators from Siem Reap, Kratie and Kampong Thom provinces, respectively. They are three of the 68 participants (over 48% of whom are women) who enrolled in an 18-week Bachelor of Education (BEd) equivalent – a blended in-service training initiative launched in early October 2019 in Phnom Penh to upgrade the qualifications of teacher educators working in Provincial Teacher Training Centers (PTTCs) and Teacher Education Colleges (TECs) across the country.
The Bachelor of Education is the first-ever program of its kind in the country, and one of the key components of the Strengthening Teacher Education Program in Cambodia (STEPCam). STEPCam is a GPE and UNESCO CapED1 funded 3-year initiative designed to support the Teacher Reform Agenda of the Ministry of Education Youth and Sport (MoEYS) on improving the quality of teaching and learning in the early grades.
Low student learning achievements in the early grades are a major source of concern for MoEYS. One of the major reasons behind these low student learning levels are weak teaching capacities, influenced by the fact that there is still a large share of primary school teachers that do not meet the level of qualification set by MoEYS. With BEd, the MoEYS expects to improve teaching and learning practices in primary schools for early grade learning.
Strengthening teacher capacity
Quality-driven capacity development is the overarching objective, not just for the MoEYS and UNESCO but for participants as well.